MERAUKE, SOUTH PAPUA – After inaugurating the Declaration of the Development of the South Papua Provincial Government Facilities and Infrastructure Center, Vice President K.H. Ma’ruf Amin visited the Sermayam Sugarcane Plantation Area in Ngguti Bob Village, Tanah Miring District, Merauke Regency. At the location, the Vice President directly inspected the Sugarcane Plantation Pilot Project Investment Laboratory and Green House.
After the review, the Vice President said that he supports South Papua to become one of the centers of the sugar industry, because so far the national sugar needs are still supported by imported sugar, the amount of which continues to increase every year, “Every year it continues to increase even in 2023 up to 6 million tons of imports and it is estimated that in 2045 our population will reach 300 million people and so the more we import, we want Merauke to be developed as a center for agriculture, plantations, including sugar cane,” said the Vice President. After the review, the Vice President said that he supports South Papua to become one of the centers of the sugar industry, because so far the national sugar needs are still supported by imported sugar, the amount of which continues to increase every year, “Every year it continues to increase even in 2023 up to 6 million tons of imports and it is estimated that in 2045 our population will reach 300 million people and so the more we import, we want Merauke to be developed as a center for agriculture, plantations, including sugar cane,” said the Vice President.
The Vice President hopes that the development of sugar cane plantations, especially in Merauke, can be successful, even to have sugar levels above 11 percent like Australia, “Australia has succeeded in developing sugar factories through planting sugar cane there and even the yield has reached 11-12 percent. If this program is successful, Merauke will become a food barn regarding our agriculture, our plantations, in the field of one of which is sugar cane, in addition to rice,” said the Vice President.
Previously, when delivering a presentation, PT Global Papua Abadi Project Leader Totok Lestyo reported that in the Sermayam Sugar Cane Plantation area a sugar and bioethanol factory will be built, “Here our plan will make 2.6 million tons of sugar and 244 million liters of bioethanol in Merauke Regency, South Papua. Event more than that, South Papua in the 2025 – 2029 planning is projected to become the center of agriculture, plantations, marine, and tourism and so, South Papua in the long term is definitely advanced,” said PT Global Papua Abadi Project Leader Totok Lestyo.
Regarding the development of sugarcane plantations, Totok said that the Merauke region is relatively new to sugarcane cultivation, so it requires superior seeds and for that, it has brought seeds from East Java and Australia to be researched so that they can be planted and developed in Merauke, “Which seeds are suitable for the climate, temperature, and rainfall in the Merauke region. We are looking for it,” he said.
Totok said that basically the natural conditions of South Papua are very potential to develop sugarcane and one of them is because it has a climate and weather that is influenced by Australia which has proven successful in the development of sugarcane plantations, “Australia is very successful in sugarcane research and we believe that maybe in five years or a few years we will be the same as Australia’s success,” said Totok.
For information, the development of the Sermayam Sugarcane Plantation area is a National Strategic Project to support the acceleration of national sugar self-sufficiency and bioethanol as biofuel and the plantation area managed by PT Global Papua Abadi covers an area of 506 hectares with an investment value of IDR 53.8 trillion.
The plan is for five sugar factories to be built in Merauke to process sugarcane covering an area of 490,000 hectares in one supply chain ecosystem, to support this, Global Papua Abadi is also building laboratory facilities at the nursery site, which support research and tissue culture to produce superior and quality sugarcane seeds, and function as a sugarcane research center.
The Sugarcane Seedling Research Area and Laboratory in Sermayan is an area for research on the growth and development of sugarcane seedling varieties from Australia and Global Papua Abadi collaborates with Sugar Research Australia and the Indonesian Sugar Plantation Research Center to obtain superior seeds that are suitable for development in Merauke and have high productivity so as to support sugar production according to the target optimally, Global Papua Abadi also collaborates with educational institutions in Merauke to conduct training for new graduates and local personnel.
The selected seedlings are then grown and propagated in the mother plantation in the Global Papua Abadi Plantation area in the Jagebob area, where the land clearing process is currently underway and in the future, commercial sugarcane production will be developed from 2025-2026 and the Global Papua Abadi sugarcane plantation factory is expected to start operating in 2027 with targeted production.
Acting Governor of South Papua Apolo Safanpo also accompanied the Vice President on this review, Director of Region IV of the Deputy for Investment Implementation Control of the Ministry of Investment Yos Harmen.
